Rescuers spend night on treetop during Tropical Storm Freddy

• Two rescuers spent the night on a treetop in flood-devastated Malawi.
• After their boat capsized and they were forced to swim until they reached a tree.
• The military and police have been instrumental in saving towns trapped on higher ground.

In order to escape being carried away by the strong currents of a river below them, two soldiers spent the night on a treetop in flood-devastated Malawi.

As their boat capsized while on a mission to rescue flood victims, the soldiers were forced to swim until they reached a tree.

Tropical Cyclone Freddy has wreaked havoc on southern Malawi, killing 225 people and uprooting 20,000 more.

Shovels have been used by rescuers to locate people who have been submerged in muck.

Blantyre, the largest city in Malawi, has been hardest hit, with numerous deaths from landslides there, many of them children.

Others have been completely carried away, while several homes have collapsed into the floodwaters.

Recalling how he helped rescue a child, Blantyre resident Aaron Ntambo said: “The child was stuck up to her head in the mud. She was crying for help. Even though the water was very strong, we managed to cross and rescue her. It was very difficult but we managed to pull her out.”

In 10 of the storm’s hardest-hit areas, the government has proclaimed a state of calamity.

Rescue efforts have been impeded by the collapse of roads and bridges, and although the winds and rain have subsided, helicopters have had trouble flying.

The military and police have been instrumental in saving towns trapped on higher ground since the emergency services are overburdened.

The troops who sought refuge under a tree on Tuesday were on a boat sent to rescue families stuck in a village in the Mulanje area, roughly 50 miles (80 kilometers) from Blantyre.

As their boat suffered engine difficulty and capsized, two additional troops and a citizen were able to swim to safety, but the other two were reported missing, prompting concerns that they had drowned.

Later, the defense minister reported that a military chopper had been dispatched to rescue the duo after they had been seen perched on a tree.

The chopper is also anticipated to fly to the area to transport families who are in dire need of assistance.

On Tuesday, a man in another town in Mulanje posted a WhatsApp message warning of strong winds and rain coming from two hilly regions.

“We have no hope, nowhere to go,” he said, adding that women, children and the elderly were among those who needed to be evacuated.

It’s unknown if a rescue crew has located them.

Freddy flooded Malawi and neighboring Mozambique with the equivalent of six months’ worth of rain in just six days.

In Mozambique, there have been about 20 reported fatalities.

Mozambique’s destruction was less severe than anticipated, according to UN official Myrta Kaulard, because the country had invested in flood defenses after being battered by tropical storms for the previous three years.

The impact of climate change on a country like Mozambique, she said, “requires tremendous investments,” as she explained on the Newsday show.

Freddy is one of only four storms in recorded history to cross the whole Indian Ocean from continental Africa to northwestern Australia.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, Freddy may also be the longest-lasting tropical storm ever.

After severely damaging the island nation of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, the storm hit Mozambique as a cyclone on Sunday — for the second time in less than a month.

According to experts, climate change is causing tropical storms to become wetter, windier, and more intense globally.

While certain communities in Malawi continue to be shut off due to unrelenting rain and strong winds, the death toll is predicted to grow.

In addition to crippling power supply, the storm caused protracted blackouts in most of the country.

The national electricity provider claimed that because of debris buildup at its hydroelectric facility, it was impossible to get it operating.

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